C H A P T E R E L E V E N
• • •
I stared at him in horror, before yanking myself away from him as quickly as possible and desperately trying to find my feet.
My blonde haired best friend poked her head around the door. "Hey, Amara forgot her fol—" And then she spotted me, still straddling Miller. She must have put together the pieces of Miller sitting with his shirt half undone and chest exposed and me with my own shirt undone, both with hair as wild as anything. And the fact, you know, we were on top of each other. "Oh my god."
I stayed rigid, and yet very relieved it was Kate— the girl who'd had to help me out of the window of a one night stand's house with my knickers still around my ankles— and not anyone else.
"Here," she said, putting the folder clearly labelled Dreyton Manor on the other side of the desk. "I'll leave you two to it then."
"Kate wait—"
"I'll wait outside."
She didn't wait for me to try and come up with some poor excuse as to why I was clearly sleeping with a client. I watched her close the door behind her, throwing me a mouthed 'well done' as she went.
When the door closed, I turned back to the boy beneath me. He gazed up at me, lips looking plumper than usual and a little roughened up. His hair was a mess and even those golden eyes screamed 'I've just been fucked!' Even if the most we'd done was have a fiddle.
"Why did you do that?"
He shrugged, not even pretending to not know what I was talking about. "Felt like it."
"It could've been anyone behind that door," I said, imagining pretty much every single possible scenario. And none of them ended well for me.
"Good thing it was only your friend then," he said, hands on my thighs.
"It could've been my boss."
Miller rolled his eyes. "He's too lazy to have made the trip over here."
He might've been right but he really didn't need to say it.
"That's beside the point," I said, feeling my resolve waver.
"So then what is the point?" He asked, staring up at me.
"The point is," I said, doing up his buttons again. "This isn't exactly professional."
"Is it not?"
"Me hovering over you? I'd say it probably wasn't." I folded his collar correctly, admiring my work for moment. 'My work' being Miller Dreyton. "Or do you treat your accountant like this, too?"
"For one, considering my accountant is a sixty year old called Arthur," he said, kneading the skin of my hips. "I'll say no. And for two, let's fix that then." He pulled me down properly onto his lap.
"We're not going to get anything done like this," I said with mock sternness.
I went to stand but his hands kept me there, firm but gentle. "Come on," he said. "Tell me about primary colours or whatever it is that'll make you happy."
I rolled my eyes, smiling to myself.
"We're not having sex now, you realise that?"
He leant back in his chair. "You better go then." I let out a sound of shock, affronted. I went to get up again but yet again, his hands pulled me to sit on his again. "I'm joking, Amara. I promise." He laughed into my neck, placing an apologetic kiss there.
"Mm," I hummed. "I'm sure."
So, just to annoy him, I really did start talking about primary colours.
♖ ♖ ♖
Twenty minutes later, I was walking out of the Manor, catching sight of Kate leaning against my car.
I didn't have to glance up to know he was watching me go.
She looked like a model, as per usual, but there was a distinct amused glint in her eye.
"So..." she said. "You and Miller Dreyton?"
I put my hand up. "Don't even."
"Don't even mention what I just walked in on?" She questioned, going around to the passenger side of the car. "That's not going to be a possibility."
I slumped myself down in my seat. Despite the fact that if my boss found out about this— not that I thought in a million years Kate would ever tell him— I would be fired, I couldn't help but be a little buzzed.
"Go on then," I said, getting myself comfortable in my chair and putting my head on the steering wheel. "Get it out of your system."
"You're fucking someone you met at a kid's birthday party?"
I cringed. "That makes it sound like—"
"No," she said, hurriedly. "Gross."
"— exactly. Anyway, I only had sex with him once and it wasn't exactly a love affair."
"Once is enough," she suddenly let out. "He still saw the Crown Jewels."
"Don't you mean I saw the Crown Jewels?"
She huffed with a roll of her eyes. "Why can't our vaginas be Crown Jewels, too?"
I laughed, setting myself up right. "Who knows," I said with a shrug, putting the car into first gear. "Ask whoever came up with weird names for that kind of thing."
We pulled away from the place. The gates opened on their own accord and I followed the road until we were out of the woods.
Kate didn't let the subject drop, like I had a feeling she wouldn't. "So how did it start? What's he like? How big's his thing?"
"Kate!"
"What?" She asked. "Gotta make sure it's worth it."
"He's fine," I said. "We had sex once. It's nothing serious. Just a bit of—" I searched my mind for the right word. "— fun."
"This has got to be the most spontaneous thing you've ever done, Amara Carlisle," she said, tapping my shoulder. "I kind of like this new you."
"Miller Dreyton isn't about to change me," I said. Who changes for a guy? Not me, that's for sure.
"No," she said with an understanding nod of her head. "You'll probably be the one to change him."
Yeah, right, I wanted to say. But then, it was always easier letting Kate believe whatever she wanted to believe.
"What do you want to do now?" I asked, knowing my appointment with Miller had booked out the afternoon so I didn't need to be back at work for the rest of the day.
"I'm going to a job," she said, tapping her fingers against the door. "And you're going to help me."
"Yeah, right," I muttered sarcastically.
♖ ♖ ♖
Along with baking, being the best best friend anyone could have, Kate was also extremely good at convincing, which was why I found myself stood outside of a fairly large house in the countryside.
"Hello, darling," an older woman said, pulling Kate into a hug as she tried to balance the leftover boxes I couldn't carry in her arms. "I can't thank you enough for doing this. Right this way."
Her greying hair was put up neatly and her elegant figure showed us to the kitchen. She looked like she'd had a generous amount of time in the sun with her dark golden skin, yet still managing to cling to her youth to a certain extent.
The house was very open— from the front door, you could see all the way into the garden where people seemed to be milling around, laughing and drinking. I spotted a few kids, too, having the time of their life as they dirtied themselves up rolling on the floor and chasing each other.
A dark haired boy with the biggest hazel eyes and longest eyelashes came running up to us.
"Grandma!" He called, stopping just in front of Mrs Taylor. She turned to him, gasping as she noticed just how grubby he was. "Have you seen Lucie?"
"Have you checked the garden, Ale?" she said, tapping his dark hair. He nodded vigourously. "Check again. You've probably missed the obvious, just like your father." He grumbled something in a language I didn't understand, making Mrs Taylor jokingly hit the back of his head, her laughing to herself as he grinned, running away.
"Your grandson?" Kate asked.
"Well, great grandson really but what's the difference?" Mrs Taylor replied, coming to settle on one side of the kitchen counter. "One of two actually. The little girl, Lucie's, a year and a half older than him. My granddaughter's pregnant again, too, so they'll be another hooligan to chase around." She turned her gaze to the garden outside, where everyone was still chatting amongst themselves with their own children running around their legs. "Lucie!" she suddenly let out as a young girl stopped a little too late and ended up running into her. "Ale's looking for you."
"I know," she said, pushing aside a tendril of blonde hair that had fallen out of her neat set of plaits. "Please don't tell him where I am."
"I don't see how that's fair," she said, looking down at the pretty child. She relented after not much longer, though. "Go hide around the other side then." I stepped back as she ducked behind mine and Kate's side of the counter. Almost as if predicting it, the boy came bounding up to her again. "Still can't find her?"
"Mummy thought she saw her come inside."
"Well I haven't seen her," she shrugged.
"Me neither," Kate chimed in, carefully taking the protective casing from the cake.
The boy looked to me. Unable to fully lie to a child, I just shook my head.
"Have you checked under the tables?" I tried.
He jumped up. "That has to be it!"
Mrs Taylor told him she'd help find her, sending both Kate and I a wink as he took her by the hand and pulled her back out into the garden. Once clear, Lucie picked herself up from the floor, dusted off her dress and walked towards where all the people were without a care in the world.
With everything set in exactly the right place, just how Kate had envisioned, the cake looked a spectacle. It was definitely perfect for a fifth wedding anniversary. A double tiered cake with little edible pearls running along the edges of it, it looked the picture of the one Mrs Taylor had shown Kate of their actual wedding. Simple, but elegant.
We both took one side of the tray it was set upon each and carefully manoeuvred ourselves out of the kitchen, down the two steps and into the fair size garden. There were several tables put together with different foods on each. We followed it down, until finally reaching the middle where it had been left empty. With a steadiness I didn't think my bubbly, almost erratic best friend was capable of, we managed to place it neatly so that the table was finally complete.
A woman I didn't recognise made her way over to us.
Her brown hair was tied back neatly, loose curls framing her face. "Hello, you must be Kate," she said, shaking Kate's hand. Up close, she was even more beautiful than I'd first realised. It struck me fully when she turned to me. "I'm Julie, it's lovely to meet you both."
"Amara," I said as we shook hands. "You too. This is a lovely party."
"Thank you," she said, stepping back slightly so I could see the curve of a small bump forming on her stomach. "I figured after five years with that one-" she motioned behind her. "-I deserved."
Seeming to have the intuition of her grandmother, a tall man found his way over to us.
"I go for two seconds and you disappear!" He said with a distinct accent. I figured European, but I couldn't quite be sure.
Julie rolled her eyes at his worry. "I'm pregnant not dying."
He flicked his hand, muttering something about how she could have hurt herself under his breath.
"Kate, Amara," she said, cutting off his rambling. "My husband, Nicolás."
We both smiled at him. Kate seemed to melt, shoulders slumping and eyes going all lovey, as she stared up at the tall, dark and handsome man. As if just existing wasn't enough, he sent us a smile in greeting, holding out his hand for each of us. I elbowed her gently before she could make a complete fool of herself to this married man.
"We should go," I said, to save Kate from speaking. "But I hope you have a great evening."
"Oh, right, yes," Kate said, suddenly shaking herself back into reality. However abruptly, I began dragging her away. "Happy anniversary!"
"You loved that, didn't you?" I heard Julie say as Kate turned her head back forward.
Her husband chuckled. "Nice to know I still have it. Don't want you getting too comfortable."
She scoffed. I turned back briefly to see him with his hands on her waist, their bodies together, him grinning down at her whilst she had her head turned, trying not to smile. I spotted both their children then, too, force their way between them. Nicolás was quick to pick up the boy, whilst Julie stroked her daughter's hair.
My heart suddenly felt strangely heavy. No matter how great it was to see a family so happy, I couldn't help but wonder whether that sort of life was ever going to be on the cards for me. The dark, pessimistic side of me told me it wouldn't. I shook my head and turned back, Kate being the one to drag me along this time.